Todd on Ricci: "The majority actually...legislated from the bench"

[7jerryv7]

One commentator made a great point. Jurists on both sides used mainstream legal arguments. There is no legislating from the bench but mainstream arguments.

Tweedle dumb and tweedle dee had no idea how to deal with someone with an intelligence argument. They were not prepared for the segment and got pwned.

I disagree with Sotomayor's ruling but that is opinion.

[MaximusRelaximus]

blah blah blah. You know what, I'm sure there are "too few" black brain surgeons, too. Let's restructure that whole absurd "medical school" system, which is clearly racist, so that we can have more of that precious diversity there, too.

And all of you who are upset by this decision will obviously be first in line to have your, or your loved one's surgery done by one of those "diverse" surgeons should the need arise.

[JesusFrickinChrist]

LVDolt89: LOL! You couldn't even reply... you had to comment indirectly, COWARD!

Like I said before, I can tell by your jr. high text abbreviations and adolescent reliance to defend yourself w/ words like "fail" that you're as insecure and inept as the come!

You're still... MY BITCH, BOY!!!!

LOL@U, AGAIN!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAAAA!

[LDV089]

Nobody is scared of you. Do you want to debate or just trade insults like idiots do?

[LDV089]

Well JesusFrickinChrist. Where did you run to? I'm still waiting for you to put up. Are you afraid? You are going to make me start thinking your afraid of a little friendly debate.

[LDV089]

O.k. You are indeed the coward! All those little thumbs down are pathetic. ROTFLMFAO!

[LDV089]

That's all you have left. Baseless personal attacks? You are pathetic.

[lewghost]

hehehehe

[3bal]

LDV089 you've really schooled us i couldn't have put it in a better way

[LDV089]

Thank you.

[kechallis]

If the results of the testing had been extremely heavy towards non-white firefighters would it raise any concerns? How would the city deal with those concerns?

[JVIL605]

reporters should report, not make opinions. They are suppose to be unbiased. the supreme court made a decision and just because the left doesnt like it they are calling it a political decision based on left / right thinking by the justices. Its is amazing to me that the left always crys foul if the outcome is not to thier liking.

[mattghtpa]

Let me get this straight, this written test was racially biased and therefore unfair how?

Because it seems to me, since I have taken, oh maybe a 1000 written tests in my life through high school and college, that I usually passed when I diligently studied and when I didn't study and sloughed it off I failed.

So please explain this too me like I am a 5yr old, because I just don't get this.

[kechallis]

No one believes you are "literally 5 years old", it's just that you seem kind of..., oh, never mind.

[mattghtpa]

Wowwhoa applause applauseplease take a bow..such remarkable response, just so astonishingly clear and concise, I'm beside my self with the eloquence and intellectualism oozing from such a well said and relevant response...wait, no I mean the exact opposite of all that, oh well never mind.

[kechallis]

Well, some people thought it was funny. (myself= some) So, you are the great sarcasm master. I have heard of you in the east. Little long winded, but yes that is in fact sarcasm.

[mattghtpa]

So did you Google that or did you think that up all on your own?

How was the word count on that one? Ok, I feel good about it, my cat gave it a thumbs up, but dog said I sould have tilted the sarcasm in a more harsh manner, an avant garde, if you will.

Oops..I did it again, I went over your allowed word allocation.

Sorrrryyy...kiss kiss hug hug.

Best wishes to your word Nazi association.

Hope it works out for you.

Well maybe not.

Sarcasm: best used on the slow.

[kechallis]

Always , always go with the dog. Cats will lie just to make you out a fool.

We don't even have enough members this year for our Word Nazi softball team.

[mattghtpa]

Miss Teen South Carolina has something to say too,

"I personally believe that, U.S. Americans are unable to do so, because some people out there in our nation that dont have maps, and I believe that our education, like such, as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S., should help the U.S., er, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future.."

[mattghtpa]

So are you going to use all the cerebral might and explain to me how a written test can be racially biased and unfair?

How is a person of a African ethnicity unable to use the same study material given to the Caucasian (politically correct broad labeled stroke a.k.a., the white devil, the oppressors of everyone else, except Hispanics in the case, we like them) and Hispanic firefighters, whom passed, and not pass?

I'm still in the dark on this, so could you enlighten me?

[kechallis]

The study materials cost $500 to begin with.

Ginsburg states "Relying heavily on written tests to select fire officers is a questionable practice, to say the least. Successful fire officers, the Citys description of the position makes clear, must have the [a]bility to lead personnel effectively, maintain discipline, promote harmony, exercise sound judgment, and cooperate with other officials. CA2 App. A432."

[kechallis]

meaning, why use this type of test (60 percent written) when the are better less biased tests out there that could be used. Do I need an english professor to put out my fire? or people who have exercised the qualities that they said the were looking for over many years service?

[kechallis]

All I'm saying is cats are evil. Dog are honest and, like me, slow, but quick to respond to a kind hand and a bowl of kibble.

[mattghtpa]

Didn't answer my question. This is an appeal to sympathy.

The price of a test is irrelevant, my network engineering series cost me over $2000, I had to sacrifice other things to save for them, but I did.

Well I happen to know a few firemen, friends of the family for several years and in order to be an effective leader does require those things you listed, but they also require detailed knowledge of various disciplines such as; hydrodynamics, material sciences, pyrotechnics, chemistry etc.

[mattghtpa]

So I think the problem here is a lack understanding and comprehension on the part of the public of just what is needed to be a "qualified and effective leader". It's just not just rescuing kittens from trees, climbing ladders, driving a big red truck, carrying a hose, and spraying some water on some fire.

So, I ask again, how a test can be racially biased and unfair when all the answers to the written test are in the study material.

[mattghtpa]

I hope this whole affair is not implying that individuals of African decent, since we must exclude Hispanics in this situation, are in someway less intelligent or learning disabled and therefore require "special" compensation, because that would seem far more troubling and implication than maybe they just didnt study hard enough and unfairly relied Affinitive action to get ahead. That would just be laziness and taking advantage of the system.

[kechallis]

You have picked your side of the argument, and will not be swayed. I don't have the time or inclination to explain testing biases to you. You have decided that biases in promotion testing do not exist (which is not what the S.C. decision was about), and the fact that this test was for leadership, not qualification to be a firefighter. You try to oversimplify the issue. Four Supreme Court Judges are just as dense as I am, and your $2000 Network Engineer certification trumps us all.

[mattghtpa]

Please do not think for me, I will tell you what I think. Affirmative action had relevence in the past when racism ran unchecked, but now seems more and more to be used for an UNFAIR advantage in place of qualifications.

The problem is simple, you study and pass, you don't study, you don't pass. PLEASE please explain how someone reading and studying the same identical material cannot pass because their skin is darker?

HOW? I'm not being sarcastic; I really want to understand this.

[LDV089]

I'll bite. It's not the studying. I'ts the testing. Tests are often culturaly biased. For example: For Holloween, one girl was wearing a sheet with a pointed hat and had a broom. The girl was dressed as a _____. In this example, one would have to have previous cultural knowledge to know that the answer is a witch. But not all cultures celebrate Holloween or view witches as dressing in that way. Word definitions is another common one. You see, it's not about skin but rather cultural environment.

[mattghtpa]

If we were discussing grade school children from the projects, maybe that example would be relevant, but were not.

These were adult men who were already career fireman. If, from your example question, these men lack very basic comprehension skills, then they have far more serious problems and need further basic education.

This a case where affirmative action does not work. There was a clear unfair biased toward integration rather than aptitude in a position that requires quality.

[LDV089]

Your question and my example had nothing to do with that specific test. It is simply an example of cultural bias in a test that I took a long, long time ago. You asked, I showed. But even you should be able to easily see how this concept can be expanded to college level testing. You ask questions that require previous and specific cultural knowledge.

[JohnnyBB82]

So you think that by eliminating Affirmative Action altogether, things will stay the way they are now? It's a necessary program because people still exist with the same biases that were around in the '60s and many are in leadership positions. Do you think that without Affirmative Action that they'll still keep their biases hidden?

[mattghtpa]

"So you think that by eliminating Affirmative Action altogether"

No, I'm saying that it doesn't always work effectively in the right direction that strives to create a true racial equality.

I'm saying that sometimes just because there was racial inequality in the past doesn't mean as we work toward equality, it's pay back for minorities and they get a pass on being qualified for a position.

IMO it just seems to promote the idea if youre dark skinned your just not as intelligent.

[JohnnyBB82]

You can look at it that way, but it's still an uphill battle for many blacks in many parts of this country. As it stands, these conservative judges decided to legislate from the bench, effectively becoming activist judges, yet you won't hear a peep out of the conservatives talking-heads.

[mattghtpa]

Question: Tell which one of these you feel is prejudice or racially biased; Miss Black America or Miss White America, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or National Association for the Advancement of White People, Black Entertainment TV or White Entertainment TV?

See where I'm going with this? Who is perpetuating racially biased stereo types and who are the ones striving for true equality?

There seems to a one sided issue everyone is afraid to talk about.

[JohnnyBB82]

I feel until blacks or any other minority becomes basically in charge here in America for a long period of time, and whites have been subjugated to slavery and all the other overt forms of racism that have happened to these people over the centuries, then white people can complain about racism. As it stands, the white man still has firm control over pretty much everything and that doesn't seem like it's going to change any time soon.

[mattghtpa]

Whatever respect you gained from the previous response completely evaporated from this response.

This is why ideas as progressive as Affective Action no matter how effective and provide real balance in situations where it was required is tarnished and corrupted when statements like you just provided are realized.

"white man still...control..everything"

I voted for a black man.

No response to my "which one of these you feel is prejudice or racially biased" question?

[mattghtpa]

..as progressive as Affirmative Action...

[mrbriscoe2001]

New Law--No more Sotto-Mizing of white firefighters in New Haven.

[papalosopher]

Moe info in sidebar please. I have very little idea of what anyone is talking about...

[stucker0]

sooo.. what was scarbourgh saying there? if he disagreed why didn't he say why

[Che0bama]

Chucky said... "The Conservative majority Instituted a new rule?"

Oh really? The Kennedy / Johnson Civil rights act of 1964 is a NEW rule?

Exactly what you can expect from the so-called "journalists" of PMS-NBC

[netwerk23]

Chucky wasn't saying that the Civil Rights act was the new rule, but rather that the City had to change its standards away from simply 'afraid of being sued'.

Did you watch the video? Do you speak English?

[Che0bama]

nettwerp23; Wrong, and way over your head. The rule is in place. Its ALL about the CRA.

They could lose the lawsuit since it was ruled that a 4/5ths Majority/minority failure/pass ratio either way, would be deemed unconstitutional.

Got it?

[LDV089]

Actually, netwerk23 is correct. Yesterday, the supreme court threw out the old test that courts used to determine discrimination for the past 20 years in favor of a brand new one. What your talking about is something else entirely.

[JesusFrickinChrist]

I'll side w/ Che on this one. As he has conveyed, It was the Civil rights act that was already in place rendering "Chucky's" point... moot.

[LDV089]

LOL! Side with whomever you wish. The two of you then doen't seem to understand how the laws actually work in the United States.

[LDV089]

A good paralell is porn. It's one thing to make obscene material illegal. The court then has to decide how to determine if material is obscene.This is done with a 3 part test established in Miller v California. You know, purient interest, patenetly offensive, and no scientific, artistic value etc. In the Ricci case, Todd is talking about the test, not the law. You might want to take a college course though it's way too much to explain in under 500 characters.

[JesusFrickinChrist]

LDV: Its so far above you.

Not surprising, you can't learn that from 0lbermann or Maddow!

[LDV089]

It's far above me? ROFLMFAO! I have a J.D. bitch. I went to law school you fool. ROTFLMFAO! How about you? ROTFLMFAO! No, this is above you!

[LDV089]

ROTFLMFAO! Major fail hayzus, major fail! ROTFLMFAO!

[hunkamonkiman]

lol @ the silence starting at 1:25

[renijohn012270]

Hey Joe Scarbourgh,,,, How did Lori Klausutis die, and why were you in such a hurry to leave Congress?

ASK QUESTIONS PEOPLE!!

Lori died in Joe Scarbourghs office and there are some unanswered questions that need to be asked! This story was swept under the rugg!!

[duhCider]

Five hundred years of institutionalized racism creates, among lesser evils, immense cultural bias that will take many generations to rectify. To not take this into account is a grave mistake for this country.

[MaximusRelaximus]

yeah, everybody knows, having "diversity" is way more important than having measurably more competent people, especially in situations where lives are on the line, such as, oh, i don't know...fire fighters, for example.

[mattghtpa]

Yeh you got thumbs down for that which I promptly thumbed back up because I'm pretty sure, no I'm absolutely sure, you are correct.

Affirmative action was required in a time when "qualified" individuals were denied employment due to racial discrimination, but now its just a failed policy weakening an already under skilled system.

Try as I might I cannot figure out how a written test can be racially biased. You either study the material and pass or don't and don't pass or do I have that wrong?

[Bruce1949919]

Sotomayor is an ugly lesbian woman. And Media Matters Sucks!

[kechallis]

Well, as an ugly lesbian woman, I am glad that she will easily be confirmed. Thanks again for your deep analysis. Very thought provoking.

[Bruce1949919]

Oh No, She will not be easily confirmed at all. She has too much baggage. That is along with her being ugly.

[kechallis]

I give up! You must be right, all that baggage, and all. ?????? No one loves us ugly lesbians. I bow to your obviously superior intellect. It must be so sad being a wingnut these days. :)

[Bruce1949919]

Do you understand what I am saying. This is not against Sotomayor....It's against Media Matters not for America. They only have a turn signal that turns left. They are the ones that suck. SotoMayor is no different then the person she is going to replace. Our Government sucks and so does MMFA.

[kechallis]

LOL, can't stop laughing. You call her an ugly lesbian, and then tell me this is not against Sotomayor. Dude you are hilarious.

[BforBryan]

Wtf is the blonde doing there?

[llachow]

hummina, hummina, hummina...

[aquamadman]

Joe is such a douche bag he makes summer breaze jellous, him and his pet lemur mika should jump off a cliff

[terrence0258]

Now I know what conservatives mean when they accuse judges of legislating from the bench. They mean that it is okay as long as they aren't siding with minorities.

[magoterran]

Their heads exploded ROFLMAO.

[bbbbmer]

look at the way mika shoves those tits toward joe s.-- nauseating.....

[WKaliberr]

Joe the Ho

[sidplicity]

Had Joe opened his mouth to discuss besides the usual "I was in congress", would have been easy pickens. This is the same crowd that carps about states rights. John Roberts first case as supreme court justice lest we forget. Taking on voter approved medical marijuana in the state of Washington. Yet another instance of saying one thing on the right and doing the other.

[bombonyou]

Scaboro didn't like the shit sandwich so much when he had to eat it, did he?

[Richardgwm]

Why do we put any value at all on a 5-4 decision? If the court is not unanimous, then the decision is simply a matter of opinion.

Our legal system is seriously flawed if we have to rely on opinion to determine what the law is. Laws should be clear and unambiguous. Anyone should be able to read the law and know what it means. Otherwise, how can anyone know what is legal or illegal?

[CannibalShinobi]

because man is flawed. We can never have a flawless system that deals with absolutes.

[Aiden057]

I don't really like Todd, much the opposite, but in this case he does give the Con-blurb-ative a nice taste of the their own medicine

[nidodson]

Maybe these idiots should just report the facts and not make any of it personal in the first place so they can actually report the news.

[johnsmitthsoup]

new rule